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November 30th, 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of Thief: The Dark Project’s release. Garrett was first let loose in The City’s darkened and mysterious streets on this day twenty years ago. The rest, as they say, is history.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of this masterpiece, a contest was held here on TTLG where Fan Mission builders had one year to build one or more missions in the style of the original game and using mostly stock assets. We are very proud to announce that we received a grand total of 24 missions for this contest!

It is highly recommended you disable all the optional features it contains (e.g. T2 textures, T2 skies and so on).

It is highly recommended you do not use the Enhancement Pack and/or HD texture packs either.

Seeing as this is a contest, you taffers get to vote for your favorite mission. The voting period starts right now and will last until March 1st, 2019. Mission voting is presented as 3 categories worth 10 points each — Atmosphere, Gameplay and Story, or a general score of 30 without categories. Voters can choose either system to score missions. Be advised that judges may deduct up to 5 points per submission if contest rules were broken.

You can view the (now closed) original thread announcing the contest one year ago HERE.

In most cases, the anonymous authors’ identities will be unveiled after the voting period ends and voters’ comments will be posted for every mission. The author whose mission received the best score shall obtain the prestigious title of Master Builder 2018 and everyone shall bow down to them (unless you’re a Pagan, in which case you may throw rotten apples at them).

—

skacky would personally like to thank Yandros for helping him out with the organization, Brethren for hosting all the missions on South Quarter as well as Al_B for the voting forms. skacky would also like to express his undying gratitude to everyone who made a mission for this contest, whether they managed to finish in time or not. He really didn’t expect the response for this contest to be so positive and enthusiastic. You are the reason why Thief lives on despite being 20 years old!

Last edited by Yandros; 6th Dec 2018 at 11:48.
Reason: Removed Station to Station

Again To all authors:
Thank you so much for contributing your time, effort, and above all personal creativity to this community.
Not only are you each enhancing the legacy of Thief by adding a creative piece of yourself to it; you're providing a huge amount of satisfying entertainment as an art form. Veterans and new mapmakers alike. You really came through for this celebration.

And I'm personally very grateful for the admins who provide the platform and structure that motivates these feasts.

This is a phenomenal achievement. It speaks to the timeless quality of the original game, the talent and passion of the community, and the tireless dedication shown by the creators and moderators of this forum. The mix of old and new blood in this contest, first-timers and grand-masters, shows that all three of these elements contribute to an active and continuing legacy. Everyone involved should be proud of their part in this legacy. Because of them, Thief shows no signs of going away any time soon!

Waking up to find 24 new Thief Gold missions!! My head can't process the information. Thank you so much to everyone involved, mission authors, admin, event moderators, and eager fans spurring the creators on.

Question: I'm removing all enhancement packs and mod features. Is it enough to just remove the mod_paths in cam_mod.ini or should I physically move/delete some files in my TG install folder? Also, should we uncheck NewMantle, or is that required for these missions (even though it wasn't part of TG)? Thanks

Edit: Also, which releases have multiple missions? Are we voting on the campaign if released as a 2 mission pack, or each individual mission?

If you look in the thread for that FM, you will see that it is not yet available for download, but will be shortly.

Both TFix 1.26 and 1.26a install NewDark 1.26, but 1.26a includes a fix which is required for Haplo's FM (and possibly others) to work properly. If you're not sure, better to go ahead and install 1.26a.

Pukey and I would like to thank skacky for creating this contest and all his work running it, and Yandros for all his work organizing the release of it. Congratulations and good luck to all the authors. Happy Anniversary, TDP, and everyone.

Judging:
Eight criteria have been chosen for judgment. Voters should provide a 1-10 score for each criterion for each mission. Some aspects to consider for each criterion are listed below. Weights for each criterion will be applied to the average 1-10 score for each criterion for an overall mission score.

Overall Enjoyment/Quality (Weight: 2/10) - The focus of this criteria is overall fun factor and the general quality of the mission as a whole. Voters should grade the mission based on a first play-thru.

Gameplay (Weight 2/10) - This category focuses on quality of the gameplay. Is it difficult in a fun way or is it frustrating? Is the gameplay too easy or simple? Does it provide good sneaking opportunities? Is it ghostable? Does the gameplay vary by difficulty? Is it linear or does it offer plenty of freedom of movement. Would the mission still be fun on another play-thru?

Story (Weight 1.5/10) - Is the story interesting, well executed, emotionally evocative? Are readables amusing or interesting or deep?

Design (Weight 1.5/10) - Is the mission well constructed? Is sound propagation implemented correctly? Does the author use more than basic shapes and flat terrain in construction? Are rooms reasonably decorated or featureless?

Atmosphere (Weight 1/10) - How well is the implied atmosphere of the mission implemented?

Technical Effects (Weight 1/10) - This category is focused on the implementation of a variety of technical/scripting effects. Good implementation of patrols and objectives (and other basic scripting without anything more involved) should warrant a fair score. More complex features and their execution are the focus of this category and CAN include visuals effects, conversations, special usage of animations, interactions, and complex puzzles (beyond grab x and place it at y location or key hunts).

Use of Space (Weight 0.5/10) - How well is the limited space used. Is it not overly cramped or filled with wasted space?

Uniqueness (Weight 0.5/10) - Is the mission unusual, is its design or gameplay original or uncommon?